One of the most extraordinary instances of successful swindling, combined with a high moral reputation and a truly benevolent career, is that of Leopold Redpath. Never was money obtained with more wicked subtlety; never was it spent more charitably. The thief and desperate criminal were SO intertwined with the philanthropist, that his character presents an admirable study for the metaphysician. A greater rogue, so far as robbery is concerned, it were difficult to find; nor a more amiable and polished benefactor to the poor and the friendless. . . .

The earlier antecedents of Redpath's career present no features of unusual interest. . . . He received a fair education, and evinced good taste in artistic matters, the latter subsequently displayed with reckless extravagance. He possessed also sound information on ordinary topics, and a good capacity for business. Having no friends to push him onward in life, he had to struggle successively with difficulties which fall to the common lot. . . . On the starting of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, Redpath secured the position of clerk in the establishment. His salary was a fair one, but not adequate to Redpath's now growing ambition. . . . Leaving the Peninsular and Oriental Company, Redpath struck out into a new field on his own account and set up business as an insurance broker in Lime Street, City. And now began that career of spurious philanthropy and affected piety which is so remarkable a feature in his character. His house at Blackheath soon became known as the residence of a gentleman whose name might be reckoned on for addition to any charitable subscription list. Highly moral in his external character, affecting a veneration for religion

(D. MORIER EVANS. Facts,

which he never felt, he was regarded as a model man. An ardent advocate of every benevolent scheme which was set on foot, he became also a willing supporter of it. . . . He was ambitious to be talked of as a kind-hearted, benevolent, charitable gentleman, whose hand, heart, and purse were ever open. And all this time he was trading in philanthropy with the capital of others. With an affable blandness of demeanor he gave away the property of his creditors, for his career as an insurance broker was a short one. Being more generous than just, in less than three months he became a bankrupt, with liabilities to the extent of £5000, and assets a mere nothing. The auctioneer's in

evitable hammer cruelly struck down his suburban establishment, and swept away the luxuries and refinements of his home. But Redpath was not the man to be crushed by an auctioneer's hammer. At the age of about thirty-five he obtained the appointment of clerk in the service of the Great Northern Railway Company. His first situation here was quite a subordinate one . . . as assistant to the registrar, Mr. Clarke.

How soon after his appointment Redpath entered on that reckless path of crime which led him to ignominy and isolation from his fellow men, is not accurately known; but it is certain that he speedily resumed that luxurious style of living which was the acme of his ambition. . . Meanwhile, his principal, Mr. Clarke, had retired from his position as registrar, and Redpath reigned in his stead. The directors did not place him there without reason. He had already proved himself adequate to the situation, and had devoted himself to the duties of the department with assiduity. The moment he had secured the control of the department, he rushed for

ward desperately in his career of crime. His previous frauds-supposing that he had committed any were very trivial to those he now practiced. Looking back upon the trickery of this consummate rogue, it seems scarcely credible that his crimes should have been so easily perpetrated, and should have remained so long undiscovered. But Redpath was a clever swindler, and the directors were unsuspecting. His facilities for the commission of robbery were great, and he used them with diabolical skill. ... The mode in which the extensive forgeries were committed was this. It was subsequently shown, for instance, that a deed, No. 3623, was

forged, the amount represented being £312 10s. This deed would have entitled a Mr. John Morris, of Manningtree, to transfer his interest in that stock, had he gone with it to a stockbroker. The person purporting to attest was a gentleman named Shaw, represented by the deed to belong to the same neighborhood. The transfer was made by Redpath to his own name, and sold through his own stockbroker, the forger receiving the amount represented. On the trial, Mr. Henry Atterbury, a clerk in the Great Northern Railway Company, thus testified to the system of fraud referred to: "I produce a transfer, dated May 7, 1852, the number of which is 3623, and it purports to be a transfer from John Morris to William Henry Hammond, of £312 10s. of the B stock of the company. In this entry, the names of Morris, the transferer, and that of Timothy Shaw, the attesting witness, are, I believe, in the handwriting of the prisoner Redpath. . . ." The witness then detailed other entries in which the name of Morris and of the subscribing witness were in the prisoner's handwriting; the result of his evidence being to show that the total amount of the fraudulent entries upon both sides of Morris's. account alone, was £17,600. But

the

Redpath was quite a connoisseur in the art of forgery, and had more methods than one. Another mode of robbery was elicited in evidence on the trial. Redpath purchased in April, 1853, two separate amounts of stock of £500 and £250 respectively. The sellers duly transferred them to him, and they were entered to his credit in the register. It should be observed, that when a transfer is made and registered, the buyer receives a certificate, termed a coupon, for the amount of stock transferred. This coupon is signed by the transfer clerk; it is then supposed to be compared with the original transfer, and with entry in the registry, by the secretary, who countersigns it; and it is then delivered to the purchaser of the stock, as his evidence of title. In Redpath's case it was found that he had placed a figure of 1 before each of the above-named amounts, converting them into £1500 and £1250, respectively, thus creating £2000 of A stock in his own favor. Fifty-two transfers were thus made into his own name, and ten out of it. Now although he had falsified the register, the coupon would not tally with it, and as the coupon must accompany the transfer in selling the stock, that had also to be altered. . . . Redpath now saw a perfect Golconda before him, that required very little labor; and, in some respects, very little skill to work. .

How the thousands thus easily acquired were disbursed, is a very interesting study. It was not squandered in giddy dissipation. Redpath kept no Redpath kept no mistress; he was never known to gamble; the gentry of the turf found no easy prey in him. No, he was a respectable man a highly respectable man. . . . Nor was this character apparently undeserved. It must be confessed, that to his other qualifications Redpath added the tact of the consummate actor. He thoroughly deceived the world; nay,

his life was so far an acted lie, that it may well be believed that he even deceived himself. ... His house in Chester Terrace was magnificently furnished with everything that a luxurious ambition in middle life could desire, and with all that a refined taste could suggest. Here he set up his carriage, keeping a groom as well as a coachman. The arrangements of his household were on a liberal scale the liberality that disburses other people's money. A butler superintended his cellar of choice wines; a footman awaited his lightest wants; and five or six female domestics shared in the splendor of his residence. . . . But the pleasures of the table and of refined company were not the only delights in which Redpath indulged. With him charity was an amusement, a passion, and a source of patronage which brought him flattery and fair friends. Persevering secretaries found in him a pliant gentleman, who was ever ready to place his name upon the subscription list for a new church, a fancy bazaar for a school, or a fund for an orphan or widow. He was, amongst other positions, a governor and one of the managing committee or almoners of Christ's Hospital, and a governor of the St. Ann's Society, an admirable institution for the children of those once in prosperity. . . . There was, doubtless, much ostentation in all this; for to believe that a man who was daily engaged in craftily forging transfer deeds for the sake of wealth, could be constantly actuated by the generous feeling of true charity, is to believe a sham. Redpath's was a spurious charity, a hollow mockery of benevolence. And yet it is hard to suspect that the genuine warmth of true benevolence did not sometimes actuate his movements. He has been known to seek out some poor widow who was trying to get her boy into a school, sympathize with her struggles, and generously relieve her necessities in so kind a way as to

make the mother's heart to leap for joy. . . . Thus was this anomalous double life pursued, forgery and fraud keeping pace with luxury and benevolence. The directors of the Great Northern Railway Company were unsuspicious of the real sources of his wealth. Their clerk had the reputation of a successful speculator, and the salary which he received was supposed to be regarded by them as merely another string to his bow. . . .

The

An incident occurred, however, which suddenly startled them into a knowledge of the reckless extravagance of Redpath's life. Mr. Denison, the chairman of the line, was standing on a station platform, conversing with Lord D, when Redpath happened to come up, and lifted his hat to Mr. Denison. nobleman, however, was on easier terms. Taking Redpath cordially by the hand, "Ah, my dear fellow,' said he, "how are you?" Having parted, the chairman turned to Lord D, and asked what he knew of their clerk. "Oh," said he, "he is the jolliest fellow in life; he gives the most sumptuous dinners and capital balls that I know of." This was an ominous rencontre for Redpath; Redpath; and, coupled with the then agitated state of the shareholding community, it was determined to scrupulously examine the books of the company. This course once decided, it was deemed advisable to begin the investigation from an early date, and a distinct department was created for the purpose. The officials instructed to carry out this process first met on November 15, 1856. A day or two after, when the actual inquiry was being commenced, Redpath came into the room, and asked what they were going to do. "To go through all the accounts," said the head of the department, "from the commencement of the company." "That is perfectly useless," said the thunderstricken Redpath, smothering his emotion; "you

will find all the accounts right in the gross, and it is of no use entering into special details." Finding this feeble remonstrance unavailing, and not daring, of course, to urge the matter, Redpath carelessly took up a book and threw it down again, remarking, "Well, if that is your intention, I will have nothing to do with it; and if this course is persevered in, I shall resign." He then made some excuse to leave for a few minutes. He went, but never returned. .

. . .

They found the accomplished forger, sitting at breakfast, between ten and eleven, and he was immediately given into custody. . . . On the morning of Thursday, January 15, 1857, the Central Criminal Court was densely crowded. . . . Mr. Serjeant Parry, for Redpath, endeavored to show that he had merely followed out a system which, the learned Serjeant alleged, was pursued by railway directors gener

97. CASE OF B. (ARTHUR Man. 1903. p. 516. U. S. Sen. Received July 25, 1887; offense, -1; age, 11; eyes, brown; clothing, fair; resides with parents; never in the almshouse; at police court of

- on complaint of -; weight, 34 kilos; height, 1371 mm.; hair, brown; education, second reader; previous arrests, two or three for stealing and staying out; never in orphan asylum, but in reform school; three months ago was in Catholic protectory and assigned to knitting department, first division. Parents Father, intemperate, dock laborer; he does not know whether any of them were arrested; no stepfather or stepmother; father, Irish Catholic; family consisting of two boys and two girls.

June 20, 1889: Height, 1428 mm.; in chest, 723 mm. April 2,

ally- that of dealing in the company's stock in other parties' names. It was contended, in fact, that the transfers were dealings in genuine stock, and that Redpath was sought to be made a scapegoat for the whole of the higher officials; but of course, any such assumption was fabulous. Mr. Justice WILLES, in summing up, clearly analyzed the circumstances, and stated that the question for the jury was, whether the instrument before them was a real or a fictitious transfer, and whether it had been executed by the prisoner for the purpose of fraud. The jury saw this, and after a few minutes' deliberation, without leaving the box, returned, what was naturally expected, a verdict of guilty.... His lordship then passed upon the wretched criminal what many persons consider the heaviest sentence which can be pronounced transportation beyond the seas for the term of natural life.

MACDONALD. Man and Abnormal Doc. 187, 58th Cong. 3d Sess.) 1890, he was intrusted to the care of his mother.

June 21, 1890, when recommitted by police court for -. Weight, 41 kilos; height, 1485 mm.; clothes, good.

Record of Complaints against him while in Reformatory. 1888, May 14: Leaving the line while returning from chapel last Sunday morning; not going on the yard. (Pleads guilty, case held open.)

May 21 Running around the yard with two others, shouting and making all the noise they could; would not come when called; refused to go on parade; kept running until I caught and locked them up. (Sunday, pleads guilty.)

May 22, by watchman: Disorderly in the yard, kicking stones

up against the shop windows while on parade. (Punished with a strap, 5 blows, 1 week, pleads guilty.)

May 23: In company with other boys entered knitting shop; machines tampered with; a few articles were missing. (Five to ten strokes with a strap, 8 weeks.)

May 31 Throwing his window frame out of the door; spoken to many times about being disorderly. (Five blows with a strap, 1 week, pleads guilty.)

July 15: Loud and disorderly after whistle was blown for parade; crowding where there was no room for him, and when asked to go to another place did not do it until I insisted on it, then he was very insolent; also fought with another boy. (Pleads guilty.)

July 16: Disorderly in wash room and training room almost every day. (Five blows with strap.)

July 21 Leaving dormitory and going to others; also generally disorderly; impossible to keep him in his dormitory. (Pleads guilty.) (Pleads guilty.)

August 28: Taking the plate of hash, and refusing the rest of the boys to have any; would not stand up. (One week.) September 6: Disorderly on parade; scuffling on the bench in the yard.

September 17: Burglarizing with another boy while on parade.

September 18: Kicking another boy. (Excused, with reprimand.) September 19: Throwing a hat about the sleeping hall, and lying about it. (Reprimanded.) Other complaints on September 21, October 4, October 10, October 15, October 31, November 13, November 22.

November 25: Rank impudence and insubordination; demanded a ticket to hospital in impudent manner; he was told to wait and see Mr. K.; was very impudent. (Punished with strap, 1 week.) Other complaints December 15, December 18, December 20.

December 29: Going to bed with

his clothes and stockings on, which I had forbidden. (Admits it, 1 week.) (In an interview he said he was cold and so kept dressed.)

1889, January 9: Talking on parade in lavatory. (Admits it, 2 weeks.)

January 15: Stealing a pair of second badge pants from boy "S." Other complaints January 16, January 22, January 29, February 1, February 11, February 16, March 30, April 12, April 16, April 22.

April 28-29 Having four keys in his pocket and tobacco; one key fitting drawer in an officer's room, which has been opened several times and articles taken out. (Punished with strap.) Other complaints May 2, May 22.

May 31 Disorderly in ranks when boys were marching to dormitory, getting out of his place, and insolent when spoken to about it. (Held open.) Other complaints June 17, June 25, June 26.

June 27: Going into boys' dormitory for plunder; got under the bed; I told him to come out and he would not do so. (Admits, except plunder, 3 weeks.) Other Other complaints October 5, October 22, October 24.

1890, January 23: Going into "B's" dormitory. (Admits, held open.)

January 30: Going to bed with his trousers on; I put him on the floor and he was very impudent and abusive and positively refused to do what I told him. (Admits it, under lock and key for one week.) Other complaints February 28, August 29, September 2.

September 26: Refused to go to the superintendent when requested; throwing a chair at the officer and calling him a G— d― liar.

September 27: Detected in taking putty off of some freshly glazed windows.

1891, January 12: Impudent to an officer, telling him to shut up and get out.

He escaped by scaling the wall